Mr Beer

Beer — it's not just for quaffing anymore. There is a serious business side to the boom, too.

Last month's Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo in America, with 6,400 attendees in Washington, D.C., looked at the bright and dark sides of the industry. The Brewers Association, a Boulder-based trade group that represents more than 2,300 small beer makers, sponsored a teleconference during which BA director Paul Gatza and chief operating officer Bob Pease talked at length about the craft industry's accomplishments and concerns. First, some upside statistics:

• U.S. craft brewing saw a 15 percent increase in volume in 2012.

• Craft beer exports rose 72 percent over 2011.

• Craft brewing's share of the market increased from 5.7 percent in 2011 to 6.5 percent in 2012.

• There are 1,254 breweries planned.

• Colorado saw 29 openings in 2012, second only to California's 56.

"The large brewers and imports were level," said Gatza. "We're going to have another good year. Brewers are running the numbers, we're seeing more brewers starting to look at what they can do for building a second brewery. We may see more second and third breweries." For example, two Colorado brewers, Oskar Blues and New Belgium, are expanding to North Carolina facilities.

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Craft brewers produced 13.23 million barrels last year, a great leap forward and a lot of beer, but minuscule in relation to industry behemoth ABInbev (Budweiser and other brands), which churned out 98.5 million barrels, just in the United States.

There are industry concerns over rising taxes. Small brewers, those who make less than 2 million barrels a year, pay a $7 excise tax on their first 60,000 barrels. As part of their festivities in D.C., representatives of small breweries lobbied legislators on the Small Brew Act, which would cut their taxes to $3.50 on 60,000 barrels.

Craft-beer makers are organizing to increase sales outside the U.S. — a mere 189,000 barrels last year — but many expressed concerns about maintaining the quality of their beers from brewery to retail outlets.

Next year's conference will be in Denver April 8-11 in conjunction with the World Beer Cup.

Correction: Because of incorrect information from a source, the excise tax on small brewers was misstated in this First Drafts column. "Our position has always been that we roll back from $18 to $9 for small brewers," said Chris Thorne, a spokesman for the Beer Institute. "Currently, breweries under two million barrels pay $7 on their first 60,000 barrels. We would like to see that rolled back to $3.50."

One of the town's bright new beer stars, Prost Brewing, hosts its first Walpurgis dinner, a spring celebration which, like the brewer's products, features German favorites, April 30 at the brewery, 2540 19th St. The menu includes knackwurst, beef roulade and trout, each course paired with a Prost brew. Tickets ($49) at chefnbrewerevents.com. ... Coming home: The Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing, named for the late and legendary brewing genius at the Wynkoop Brewing Co., was awarded to brewer Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins during the Brewers Association conference. ... Making plans: The eighth annual American Craft Beer Week is May 14-19, highlighted by a nationwide toast, at 4 p.m. in Denver. ... Thanks but I like my fruit in a bowl: Apricot sour ale? It's new from AC Golden Brewing, made with apricots from Palisade, and there's Odell's Tree Shaker Imperial Peach IPA, also from Colorado-grown fruit. ... Go big: Oskar Blues, the innovator in canned beers, out with its popular Little Yella Pills in 19.2-ounce cans. ... Quotable:"I would change policy, bring back natural grass and nickel beer. Baseball is the belly-button of our society. Straighten out baseball, and you straighten out the rest of the world." — Former pitcher Bill Lee.